When she came back to, it was in the infirmary. The nurse kindly told her Naruto had brought her in his arms, screaming and at a complete loss of what to do because she suddenly fainted when they were eating and her face was burning. Everyone in the academy heard him, as Naruto was not known to be the most inconspicuous of persons, and just the mere image of her being carried by her crush while everyone saw almost made Hinata faint again.

She was told to wait since classes were almost over anyway, and despite Hinata feeling like a complete failure again, not only for fainting when she was finally eating lunch with her crush, but because she lost the rest of the school day and her father would definitely lecture her about it, she obeyed, too embarrassed to show her face again to the rest of her classmates.

When the bell rung she slowly sat up. The nurse gave her a few instructions in case she felt bad again on her way home, and just as she was about to leave the infirmary, Naruto and Iruka-sensei entered.

Naruto bowed, something Iruka obviously told him to do as he looked at their sensei from the corner of his eyes, as if worried he wasn't doing it right. "I'm sorry Hinata-chan. I don't know what I did to make you faint, but I promise I won't do it again" he apologized sincerely.

"D-Don't worry a-about it, Na-Naruto-kun" she said quickly, shaking her head to show him it was really fine. Naruto grinned, receiving a pat on the head from Iruka.

"Alright, now that you apologized, I need to speak with Hinata alone. Can you leave us, Naruto?"

"Yes!" he answered enthusiastically, waving to Hinata before exiting. Hinata blinked, glancing at Iruka, curious about what he had to say.

The older man sighed. He lifted his hand and gave Hinata her backpack, so she wouldn't have to go back to the classroom to get it. Hinata accepted it, grateful for that. Everything was there, including the now clean bento box she had given Naruto and hers, still half-eaten.

"Hinata" Iruka called, catching her attention immediately. "Listen. I am truly grateful that you have taken Naruto into consideration all this time… you are truly a good person. However, I came to realize something, and that is that you don't have to go out of your way to bring Naruto bentos all the time."

Hinata blinked, opening her mouth to try to explain it wasn't a problem at all, but Iruka raised his hand, stopping her.

"Before you say anything, I know you're doing it because you want to, and that's a very good thing. Not many people even think of doing something like this for him… but it's not your responsibility to keep him fed. I'm not telling you to stop completely, just…" he sighed again, letting his hand fall to his side. "I can't keep making you bring him lunch when that responsibility should have fallen upon me. I may not be Naruto's legal guardian, but in a lot of ways, I feel responsible for him. If there's someone who should make sure to feed him every day… is me. I was just too caught up in my own life to realize my diet it's not something ideal for a growing child like him. So, from now on, don't worry anymore about it. I will make sure that Naruto lacks nothing starting now."

Though Iruka's words should have sounded relieving, for Hinata it felt like a punch to the stomach. Sure, Iruka-sensei wasn't telling her not to make a bento for Naruto ever again. He was just saying… she needn't worry as much. But for her it really wasn't a burden. She was happy while making lunch for Naruto. She looked forward to giving them to him.

She told this to her sensei through very long, very pathetic attempts at not stuttering, and the older man listened to her, nodding.

"I understand. Like I told you, you can still prepare a bento for him… but not all the time. You are his classmate, not his mother."

The words hurt, though they were not supposed to. Seeing this, Iruka said something more.

"You can eat with him again, you know? Just because it's not you who's giving him lunch it doesn't mean you can't ever talk to him again" he soothed.

Hinata nodded, trying not to see things so negatively. The problem was that she knew herself. Without that small push she gave herself every time she brought a bento to Naruto, it was likely she wouldn't be able to ask to eat with him again.

She frowned. No, that wasn't right. She really should stop thinking so dismally. There was a time she thought it would be impossible to even talk to him, but now, she had done more than that. Maybe she felt it was impossible now, but it surely wouldn't be on the long run. She just had to… keep cheering herself. Besides, they had already shared lunch once. It wouldn't be so bad, no?

Forcing herself to smile, she gave Iruka a nod, agreeing with him.